Friday’s Godbytes

The Washington Post’s Under God blog reflects on presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty‘s recent reference to Jesus as his “political hero”: Here at On Faith, we hear daily from Christian activists whose faith motivates them in the public policy realm –and often their causes cancel one another out. From religious clergy for abortion rights to Catholic […]

The Washington Post’s Under God blog reflects on presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty‘s recent reference to Jesus as his “political hero”:

Here at On Faith, we hear daily from Christian activists whose faith motivates them in the public policy realm –and often their causes cancel one another out. From religious clergy for abortion rights to Catholic priests working to end abortion, it’s clear that when it comes to what Jesus would do in the public square, things are not so clear.

Running with the theme of faithful politicians, apparently giving props to the Almighty (a la presidential candidate Rick Perry) is a smart political move, according to Michelle Cottle at the Daily Beast:

Speculation about Rick Perry joining the 2012 Republican primary smackdown spiked this week after the Texas governor’s sitdown with the Iowa press. “I’m not ready to tell you that I’m ready to announce that I’m in,” Perry teased the influential Des Moines Register. “But I’m getting more and more comfortable every day that this is what I’ve been called to do. This is what America needs.”

With those words, a shudder passed through the current crop of GOP contenders. Because, when a conservative pol starts talking about The Call, you know he or she is serious about taking that next step.

Deacon Bo at Homebrewed Christianity asks if anyone is evangelical enough anymore:


Over the past decades there has been an increasingly contentious debate about the invisible boundary of evangelicalism. Apparently some have become so concerned that even historical figures who were previously safe (even adored) are in danger if their views are found to be too loose for the contemporary conservative backlash.

The folks over at the Tricycle blog are questioning the importance of Buddhists meditation retreats:

On the one hand, I know what Eaton is saying: it’s hard to find the time to go on a lengthy retreat and we don’t want to feel like it’s impossible to deepen our practice if we can’t go on retreat. On the other hand, I do feel like the times that my practice has deepened most substantially is when I’ve been on retreat.

Mike Clawson, a Christian contributor to The Friendly Atheist blog (yup, they’re pretty friendly), offered his two cents about a recent study that found that reading the Bible makes people more socially progressive:

On the other hand, perhaps this shouldn’t come as quite such a surprise, at least for Christians like myself who followed precisely the path described in this study – the more I read the Bible, the more socially progressive I became. And in my case at least, it was a matter of causation.

And today’s Tweet of the Day comes from Presbyterian pastor and twitter addict Bruce Reyes-Chow, who reflects on pre-sermon jitters:

@breyeschow – I think nerves are the Holy Spirit’s way of reminding a preacher whose word is to be preached.

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